


Steve Harrington and his Child Friends- A Saga

by a_million_stars



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Abuse, Gen, abandoned, also max and robin would be besties, also they swear a lot, but just gonna throw it out there because billy and papa harrington suck, its vaugly mentioned, prove me wrong, robin is just really fucking cool, steve and max being friends is my favorite thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 19:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21553831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_million_stars/pseuds/a_million_stars
Summary: “Is that little fucker here?  I told him that I’d kick his dumbass if he skipped work again.”At this point Robin was completely alarmed.or, Max comes and visits Steve at Scoops and Robin tries to figure out what the fuck is going on.  Featuring everyones favorite gay detective Robin, mom Steve, some classy Max and Steve sibling action, and lots of best friendship and good times.  And of course a little bit of Max and Steve have shitty families angst because thats who I am as a person.
Relationships: Robin Buckley & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield
Comments: 16
Kudos: 170





	1. Chapter 1

It was pretty fair to say Robin was done with today. She had been scooping ice cream for 5 hours, 2 of which involved Erica and her little friends loitering and getting samples. She had given up fighting it now, and had forced Steve to deal with them.

Speak of the devil, he was currently hiding in the back room after a particularly bad rejection. 

She couldn’t believe he went for Sophia Ritzio. Popular, pretty, and a total bitch. She didn’t even have the decency to reject him in peace, she decided to hang around with her friends and giggle and point. Even Robin thought that one was a little harsh, and she was the biggest advocate of bullying Steve.

Robin groaned as some preteen looking girl made her way up to the counter. Robin blinked slowly and put on her classic fake smile. This was way better acting practice then drama club had ever been. The girl was grinning widely and gliding effortlessly on a skateboard. Those weren’t allowed in the mall, but Robin definitely didn’t care enough. The girls hair splayed out behind her, and she practically slammed into the counter. 

The girl ducked down for a second, and picked up the board. She tucked her hair behind her ear and tried to peak around Robin. Robin raised her eyebrows and decided she might as well just get this interaction over with.

“Ahoy.” Robin said, her voice monotone. The girl laughed, which was unexpected. The kid didn’t say anything, so Robin droned on. “How can I help you?”

The kid didn’t even pull any punches. “Is that little fucker here? I told him that I’d kick his dumbass if he skipped work again.” Robin was completely alarmed. She liked to think that she could handle just about any situation. But this seven year old dropping f-bombs in the first sentence at an ice cream store in the middle of butthole Indiana was a little jarring. Robin kind of just stared.

“Hello?” The girl waved her hand in front of Robins face. The girl’s expression changed from stupidly happy to exasperated and sarcastic and Robin was really fucking taken aback. 

The kid had that sickening sweet look to her, big eyes, colorful clothes, friendship bracelets lining her wrists, combined with the whole “I’m an angsty skater” thing. Robin could sense a punk phase coming up, and she was ready for it. Normally she kind of tuned people out when they ordered, but she was kind of curious what was up with the kid.

She was pretty sure she had seen her with Billy Harsgrove once or twice. He was a total dick, but the fact that he seemed to despise her definitely gave this girl cool points. She didn’t exactly keep tabs on middle schoolers, so otherwise she was a mystery. 

The kid was still staring at her, eyes narrowed, obviously waiting for something. If Robin wasn’t so informed on the expression of lovingly angry she would have thought that the girl was pissed at whoever she was looking for.

Besides, the kid didn’t make much sense, because whoever she was looking for was definitely not here. All she had was a Steve. The redheaded girl looked at her expectantly, and Robin didn’t really know what to say, so she just shrugged. 

The girl kept going, motioning for some sort of response. “Steve? Tall, dumb hair, kind of ugly? No friends?” 

Robin let out a kind of choked laugh, not really sure what to do. The kid sounded weirdly fond, which was a stark contrast to the words coming out of her mouth. 

She didn’t know what part of this interaction to question first, first, who the hell was this girl? Second, what did she want with Steve? Also, there was the fact that she clearly liked him, or at least knew him enough to not immediately judge the whole King Steve thing.

She considered herself pretty good at analyzing people. The Harsgrove kid clearly wasn’t popular or even attempting to be, so she probably didn't want to hang out with him for his popularity, or would even be confident enough to try and talk to him without being friends. 

Plus she doubted the kid was crushing on him, so apparently there was some weird friendship. And the girl definitely knew Steve pretty well based on just the way they were talking, and the fact that she knew where he worked and his hours. But she still had no inkling of why the girl was here or who she was.

“Yeah, Steve. Steve Harrington.” She could see the kid getting a little exasperated for real this time. “I assume he’s still here, unless he got violently murdered or something.”

Robin blinked. “Uh, yeah. He’s not dead.” She turned and yelled into the backroom “Steven?” She wasn’t sure why she called him that. She never did, but it sort of slipped out.

“Leave me alone I’m still emotionally vulnerable!” He yelled back, and before she could say anything the Harsgrove girl joined in.

“Get your sexy little ass out here Harrington!” Robin sputtered a little, and Steve audibly groaned. But the way he practically lit up at the sound of her voice told a different story. He sauntered out, which Robin made a mental note to bully him for later. As soon as he got in sight of the kid put on his annoyed face back on.

“You absolute shitface.” Steve glared at the girl, which she mirrored. “Why the hell are you here?”

“To harass you of course.” She replied, winking. Steve groaned again, and flipped her off. Robin tightened her lips to hide a smile. She wanted to interject to figure out who the hell this random girl was, but she didn't want them to remember she was there and stop talking.

“Well Max, looks like you get to be graced by my presence for a little while” He teased, and the kid (Max apparently) gave him a look equivalent of the middle finger.

“Hell no. The only reason I even considered coming here is because the boys are all busy.”

Steve grinned cheekily. “Really? Cause I know for a fact Mike is sulking in his room because E-” He cut himself off. “His girlfriend is stuck with her dad. And if your hate for him is too much to bear, I know for a fact Lucas is alone at the arcade right now. I’m picking him up after my shift. If I didn’t know any better I would think you were trying to spend time with your best friend/mentor”

“You’re more like an over glorified babysitter who pays for everything. Dustin’s your little mentee creep.” Max replied, smirking. Steve grabbed a cone and started filling it, apparently already knowing the kids order. 

This was definitely getting weirder. The two of them were obviously friends which was bizarre, and she had already mentioned two other children's names, which probably meant there were more of them. Apparently they were close enough to know eachothers ice cream flavors, communicate daily, and to bitch at each other, which was odd. Plus apparently he was giving a little boy a ride home which was nice.

The Steve that she knew would never even consider associating with this child. That was the definition of lame. Plus, she had no clue how he even met these kids considering Robin was possibly the lamest kid in the school and had no idea who they were. And Steve was not a good enough person to do some mentorship program, so that was out of the question.

Before she could contemplate anymore, Max started up again. “So, I got it.” She bit her lip, and Robin could hear barely contained excitement in her voice.

Steve looked up from the scooper, mouth open. “No way.”

“Yes!” She practically shrieked, and held up the board she had skated in on. It was still shiny, and Steve reached out to touch it before Max swatted his hand away. “Stay away. She’s too beautiful to be touched by your peasant hands.”

“I paid for that board asshole!”

“Like 90% assface.” She retorted, and Robin held in a little snort of laugher. Watching the two of them banter was fascinating, and she kept waiting for Steve to say something dumb and mean to run her off. But he just handed her an overflowing ice cream cone, not even asking for money. Max brightened up and took a very large lick. 

“Besides, maybe I’ll let you try it out after the movie tonight.” She relented, and Robin raised an eyebrow. The movie?

“If I die on that deathtrap then I’m suing you.” Steve really had no capability of hiding his emotions. She could see him trying to look annoyed, but his eyes were sparkling. She could practically see his brain spark when he thought of something. “Did you convince Will to come? He was our swing vote.”

“No, it’s just the two of us.” She paused to take a bite of ice cream. “I can’t believe they don’t appreciate Sixteen Candles! We need Dustin back, he totally would have come! Now I have to spend alone time with you.” 

“First of all ouch.” Steve grinned a little bit at the mention of Dustin, whoever that was. She was trying to keep track of how many names he had mentioned, but there were too many. At least six. It was like Steve was a really shitty soccer coach. 

“Yeah, Dustin really does love a romcom. I can’t believe how many of those things you two idiots dragged me to. That’s the only section of jeopardy where I can kick Lucas’s ass.” Steve said fondly, and Robin raised her eyebrows a little bit. There was a lot to unpack. Steve apparently watches a lot of rom coms, has many child friends, and plays jeopardy with said child friends. 

“Dragged you to? You’re the one who forced us to see Heathers three times!” She accused and Steve threw his hands up.

“Heather’s is a great movie! It’s action, not romance!” He defended, and Robin actually laughed out loud.

She couldn’t even help but join in. Harassing Steve was her specialty. “We all know you’re just horny for Winona Rider.”

“Not important.” Steve interjected, and suddenly realized it was Robin speaking, not Max. The two of them both swivel their heads in slow motion, obviously having forgotten that she was even there. Robin would have felt bad for interrupting their little buddy bud moment if it wasn’t for the hilarious looks on their faces. 

“Who are you?” Max asked, apparently unconcerned with social etiquette. Robin didn’t mind.

“Manners shithead!” Steve reprimanded, reaching to grab her cone from her. Max jumped back and took a huge bite from it, which was disgusting. “Don’t bite Max, lick.” 

“Ew Steve!”

He seemed to realize what he said, and stumbled over his words trying to keep talking. “I- dont- no- just-” He sighed, and dejectedly put his scooper down. “Don’t eat ice cream before dinner, it’s bad for your health.”

“Okay Mom.” Max teased, and Steve threw his hat at her.

“I hate you so much.”

“You’re a terrible person.”

“Max, you know you’re the worst, right?”

“You know you have no friends, no future, and no one loves you, right?”

“You do such good things for my ego Maxine.” Steve sighed and put his hat over his heart like a lovesick revolutionary war soldier. Robin’s mouth twitched trying to hold in a grin. She could tell that they were real friends just by the way they talked to each other. It was kind of adorable in a gross way. Not that Robin would ever tell them that though. Steve having a child best friend was way too good of bullying material.

Max giggled at him, and the two of them started talking to each other about god knows what. Steve lifted up his arm and she saw a friendship bracelet on his wrist matching one of Max’s. Robin had to turn her head a little bit so that they couldn’t see her smile. That was fucking adorable. In a dumb way.

She wasn’t sure she had ever seen Steve look happy before. She thought back through years of knowing him, from sixth grade to high school, but she had never seen Steve actually look happy about something. It was kind of depressing if she thought about it. She didn’t like to think about him, because the guy was a dick. But this was a very non dickish thing he was doing right now.

The bell rang, and Robin sighed. It was totally Steve’s turn to work, but she didn’t want to break up the party. She went back to scooping mindlessly, and let the two of them chat it up. She was pretty sure the two of them were bitching about something Max’s boyfriend did this time, which Robin honestly felt bummed about. She had been getting a gay vibe from the kid, but from the way they talked about this poor boy there was totally a chance she was bi at the least.

It had become something Robin became obsessed with, trying to identify other gay people. It had pretty much been an epic fail so far, because even if she was fairly certain she had no idea how to make sure. It’s not like Max and Steve would giggle and gossip about some girl Max liked in front of her. It sucked a little bit.

“Okay, so can someone tell me who the hell this random girl is?” Max pointed over to Robin, smiling sarcastically at Steve. The kid apparently gave zero fucks about social appropriateness, which she appreciated. Being nice to strangers was overrated.

Steve smirked at Max. “You’re the random girl idiot.” He turned around and finally acknowledge her existence. “This is Robin. She hates me. You two would get along.”

Robin couldn’t help but smile at the introduction, and Max seemed to brighten up a little bit at the mention of hating Steve. She looked at Robin quizzically, like she was trying to analyze her. “Okay Robin,” She said her name like she doubted that it was even real. “Name Steve’s worst qualities.” Robin hesitated. “Go.”

She felt a little bit like a grade schooler who was given a pop quiz. For some weird reason she wanted this kids approval, and didn’t want to mess this up. Steve looked appropriately annoyed. She didn’t know whether to go the ‘he’s annoying’ route or the ‘he bullied me and my friends’ direction. She opted for the first. “He has no talents, literally can’t read, and has negative three friends.” She looked at Max’s face, trying to get a read on her response. Apparently she passed, because the girl seemed to relax a little.

“I totally have friends! I have Dustin! And Max!” Steve yelped, looking deeply offended. Max stepped away from him, putting her hands up.

“Don’t look at me dumbass. I’m just here for your money.” Steve flipped her off.

“Kid, I’m literally broke.” Robin smirked at that, because it was a bold faced lie. She didn’t get why he was even working at Scoops, the boy was filthy rich. He didn’t need this job.

“Not broke enough to save the million dollars a month you spend on hairspray.” Max grinned cheekily, and Steve swatted her.

“You know I’m saving everything that isn’t completely essential. And hairspray is completely essential.” Max raised her eyebrows. “You fuckers are breaking the bank for me. At this rate I’ll be stuck with my old man forever.”

Max looked at the ground, and unless Robin was crazy the kid looked a little ashamed. Based on their interaction so far the girl wasn’t capable of shame, just sass. “Sorry about the skateboard, I shouldn’t have asked for it. I’m going to pay you back, I swear.”

“It can be your birthday and Christmas presents for the next five years.” Max pursed her lips, clearly not believing it. “Besides, it's on me that your dear old brother broke it in the first place. I can handle hanging out with Papa Harrington a little longer if it means you have your board. I don’t need you dying attempting to ride on the duck taped death trap.” Steve rustled the kids hair a little bit, and she hit him, laughing. The two of them were like an adorable brother sister pair. Annoying, but adorable. 

“I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Max sounded really sad, like a hurt puppy. Steve pretty much melted at her expression. She would have made fun of him if it didn’t mean breaking up the moment. She was a sucker for best friendship, even though she would never admit it.

“I’m a bad bitch Max, you know that. I’m like the terminator, but hotter.” He made a ninja move, and Max giggled, a little painful, but it was still a laugh. Steve twisted his lips and attempted to get serious. “Besides, I can-”

Some kid outside the store shrieked, and Steve flinched, blinking. Max looked around, appearing to just remember that they were in public. Steve leaned in and started talking into her hair, his voice so quiet that Robin couldn’t make out anything. Max looked sad, annoyed, then laughed a little bit. Steve leaned away and the two of them locked pinkies, and shook on something. She couldn’t believe that Steve Harrington actually made a pinky promise.

“You’re Dad sucks.” Max decided and Steve laughed, nodding.

“Yeah he’s a total asshole. Your Stepdad’s a ray of sunshine though.” They both giggled, and Max jumped up onto the counter so she could sit. The two of them looked at each other with some weird comradery about parents. Steve looked a combination of sad and protective, but his eyes were twinkling a little bit. She couldn’t figure out what the expression meant, but it was clearly some private bond or something. Steve made a weird face, and the two of them started stupidly laughing again.

Max did seem to look a little happier, and started animatedly describing this new trick she was learning, with lots of hand motions and sound effects. Steve looked completely mesmerized, and she couldn’t decide if it was cute or creepy.

The entire conversation had been completely bizarre. She didn’t really know what to think of their brief money talk. Steve Harrington could literally afford a small country, and all she knew about his Dad was that he was a huge businessman. She honestly didn’t even know what he did, just that he made hella bank.

It was all very confusing. But she was really good at overanalyzing people thanks to her epic attempts to find gay people, so she had grasped at some straws.

They both had Daddy issues. Honestly, that was like half of Hawkins, so she wasn’t even that surprised. The town was comprised of drunks and people who married each other for the money. There were like three happy couples in the entire place. She would have been more surprised if their parents were happy to be honest. She was a little surprised at Steve though, his Dad was really fucking well respected. But appearances can be deceiving apparently, cause Steve’s definitely was.

She didn’t really know what to think. Steve Harrington sucked. A lot. His whole Daddy issues thing didn’t really affect her opinion of him. He had pretty much coined the word faggot in Hawkins. She hated him for that.

He had been okay this summer. Granted they had only been together for a few weeks, but they spent 10 hours a day together. And Steve had been working tons of extra shifts without her, apparently where this kid had been hanging out with him. 

He was nice enough to her, the two of them bantered back and forth and he never said anything mean, which was good. But not being a total asshole wasn’t exactly a huge compliment. He bullied her and her friends for years. He had pretty much disappeared in the last year, but that didn’t really mean much to her. He was probably just drunk somewhere.

Or hanging out with kids. That was what was getting to her. This little girl. Robin hated kids, they were annoying and manipulative and just totally immature. She never wanted children, and would never spend time with them voluntarily. Of all people she figured Steve would be in the same boat on that.

But he was acting like she was his baby sister. The kid obviously looked up to him, and he was completely under her thumb. 

He bought her a skateboard. Robin didn’t get the story behind it, why it was broken and all of that, but she knew damn well that the Steve she knew wouldn’t have even considered buying her something knew, even if he did it personally, Hell, Steve wouldn’t even replace a pencil that he broke.

She didn’t know what to think, or what to say. She was finding it too hard to hate Steve, and it was taking way more energy then she was willing to give. 

She looked over, and the Max girl was hitting Steve with his own hat. It was really cute. She worked, and just let the two of them hang out. She had always wanted siblings, and she couldn’t find it in her to disrupt them. But she was totally taking the tips for the day.

The girl finally ran off, promising to be at his car in time so he didn’t have to wait. Robin looked over at him smirking, and Steve just glared. “Don’t say a word.” He threatened, and adjusted his hat. Robin raised her eyebrows at him suggestively.

“Say a word about what Harrington?” She smirked. “So how does it feel to be a mother?” Steve glared at her.

“She’s just a kid I babysit.” Robin almost laughed out loud. He was so obviously trying to look cool, and it wasn’t working. 

“So I assume you’re being paid for the viewing of Sixteen Candles tonight?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Steve polished his scooper, and Robin grinned at him. 

“Nothing wrong with it. I’m glad you made your first friend.” She mocked, and Steve flipped her off.

“Don’t fucking talk to me.” They made eye contact and burst out laughing. 

“I fucking hate you.”

“Hate you too.” She winked, and Steve groaned. This summer wouldn't suck so much.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas and Max show up at Scoops and Robin is appropriately amused. Feat Lumax, Steve and Max being besties, Robin being mystified by Max, casual angst, and that classy Steve and Robin friendship we’re all here for.

It wasn’t like Robin wanted to see the kid again.  
  
It had been three days since the mystery girl had loitered at Scoops for a whopping four hours. Said girl was apparently best friends with Steve fucking Harrington, and had somehow managed to worm her way into Robins heart.  
  
It was annoying. She didn’t like kids, but there was something about the girl. Robin was really freaking curious, and honestly her and Steve were kind of adorable.  
  
After seeing the kid Steve was way less insufferable than usual. Actually, he was the same, Robin just didn’t hate his guts as much anymore. She still hated them a little, but that’s part of the whole “stole the love of my life” situation.   
  
He had been a total asshole in high school but apparently motherhood had changed him, because now he was pretty enjoyable to be around. He would bully her just as much as she did him, made stupid jokes, and had even covered for her with the boss man when she was late.  
  
Robin actually liked her job now. She could fuck around with Steve, eat a shit ton of ice cream, and maybe, maybe not wait around for Max to show up again. She felt kind of creepy for it, but the girl was fascinating. And she really distracted from the monotony of giving Erica free samples.   
  
Robin was like a really shitty junior detective. As soon as anything happens, no matter how minor, she became obsessed with solving it.   
  
Hot girl has never had a boyfriend? Bam! Robin spends several hours consulting anyone who ever spoke to said girl. One of her clarinet reid’s was missing? Boom! Hours of interrogatoin until fucking Freddy confessed to stealing one while she left to use the bathroom.  
  
So random little kid shows up and becomes Steve Harrington’s bestie? Naturally she needed to figure out whatever the fuck was happening. How did Steve become friends with her? What made Steve change? Who were the other children they had mentioned? The mysterious Daddy issues? Everything.   
  
Being a teenage lesbian in the most close minded town in the state gave Robin a certain skill set. But so far her results had been inconclusive because Max was missing.  
  
She got distracted by Steve yelping in pain. It was the pre lunch, post breakfast lull in sales, and Steve had been attempting to learn technically advanced scooper tricks. He was working on a spin move that would make the scooper land in his shirt pocket, but had only succeeded in hitting himself in the face many times.  
  
“That’s it.” Robin groaned, as once again the scooper hit him square in the forehead. She liked when Steve got hurt. It was funny. But it was getting ridiculous. She was trying to wallow in her teenage angst in peace, but Steve’s screams of pain were distracting.  
  
She snatched the scooper out of his hands and held it high above her head, trying to keep it out of his reach.  
  
Because she was a dumbass, she didn’t realize that Steve was significantly taller than her and could reach it easily.  
  
But Robin had grown up with a brother five years older than her. She knew how to hold onto something VERY tightly while being attacked. And Steve was way less mean then fucking Brody. He didn’t bite, so she was able to defend herself easily.  
  
She jumped up, and he wrapped his arms around her, trying to loosen her grip. She wiggled desperately in his hold and tried to squeeze her way out.  
  
It was kind of weird. They were wrestling like seven year olds in public, but Robin was pretty much over it. She giggled and tried to fake Steve out, relaxing slightly until he loosened his hold.  
  
That’s when she pounced, pinching his arm and jumping away. She laughed madly, and she could see Steve grinning widely. It was weirdly domestic. He moved in to try and grab his scooper back, but they were interrupted by someone slow clapping.  
  
The two of them turned, almost in slow motion. Robin found herself weirdly terrified that it would be Tammy Thompson there. In Robin's mind Tammy had finally gathered the courage to admit her deep and intense love for Robin, but at seeing her and Steve acting like idiots decided it was over and never spoke to her again. Not probable, but you never know. And with Robins luck.... likely.  
  
Instead it was a wildly cackling Max, accompanied by some boy. He was tallish, black, and wearing the dumbest outfit Robin had ever seen. Robin widely grinned at seeing the kid, before covering it with her classic frown.   
  
“She just kicked your ass Steve!” Max laughed, and Steve audibly groaned. She could see him brighten, and Robin felt herself so the same. This kids charm was bizarre.  
  
She was wearing a “Fuck Indiana” shirt which was hilarious, and had chocolate on the side of her lip. She was pretty sure there was a new fucking friendship bracelet on the kids wrist. She was cool in a nerdy way but it worked, which Robin hated.  
  
“That was sad Steve.” The boy said, bowing his head dratically. “When was the last time you won a fight again?” He trailed off, and Steve flipped him off.  
  
“For your information, I win plenty of fights, just not around you hooligans. Don’t need you picking up any tricks from your mentor/life coach.” Steve winked, and both of the kids shuddered in tandem.  
  
“You’re disgusting. And if you’re worried about showing us bad habits you probably shouldn’t have bought Dustin that hairspray.” The boy nodded gravely. “That was the most devastating thing you could have done to us.”   
  
The new kid, who apparently had quite a flair for the dramatics took off his hat and held it over his heart like a long lost sailor remembering a terrible battle. Max giggled, and hit the hat out of his hands. The boy yelped and pushed her, and Max shoved him right back. It was cute in an annoying way.  
  
“Ok Lucas.” Steve said his name so mockingly that Robin had to stifle a laugh. She was doing her best to stay uninvolved and just observing. She took the scientific method very seriously.   
  
“Dustin's hair was beautiful, and you’re just jealous that you couldn’t pull off the look like he did.” Steve cocked his hip out, and Max laughed loudly.  
  
Laughing was weird. Each person had like seven different laughs that meant different things. She had heard Max’s sarcastic “I hate you” laugh, the classic cackle, and the dumb giggles, but her actual laugh was weirdly childlike. Lucas was looking at her in wonder, and it was kind of adorable. Robin guessed that this was the boyfriend that Max had been talking about on Monday. Poor boy. He seemed nice enough, and Max was brutal. Robin liked it though.  
  
Max elbowed Lucas a little bit too hard to be nice. “You two are dumb. I want ice cream.” Steve sighed loudly, putting significantly more emphasis on it then there needed to be for the situation. They worked at an ice cream store, so being asked to scoop ice cream was a pretty standard request.  
  
“You’re breaking the bank Mayfield.” Steve grumbled, but started banging out the order anyway.  
  
“Oh Steve you innocent fool, this isn’t out of your pocket.” He raised his eyebrows, and Max smiled mischievously. “We’re on a date. Lucas is paying. Right Lucas?” She looked over to Lucas, who looked terrified.  
  
“Of course.” He nodded so quickly that his chin bumped his neck and his voice cracked.. “You’re worth every penny.” Max rolled her eyes, but looked pleased. When she turned around to look at something else, Lucas motioned to Steve, clearly begging for money. Rolling his eyes, Steve nodded, and Lucas returned some prayer hands. Boys were dumb.  
  
Middle school relationships were a trip. Not that she ever experienced one (thank you gay), but it was still ridiculous. Besides, who didn’t bring money on a date?  
  
“Can I have a couple samples?” Lucas asked cheekily, and Steve threw an empty sampler spoon at him. Max licked at her cone happily.   
  
Steve motioned towards him, clearly trying to express something to Lucas without alerting Max. The closest translation he could get was “Dude what the fuck I’m already paying for you?”  
  
Lucas just smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. Steve threw another spoon, grumbling. “You’re worse than your sister Sinclair.”  
  
A scooper hit the floor with a loud pang, and absentmindedly Robin realized she had let go of hers in terror. Of fucking course Lucas was the devil child’s big brother. Her muscles had literally spazzed at the mention of her.  
  
She shuttered involuntarily. “Erica’s brother? Absolutely not, please leave the store.” She stammered. She really fucking hoped that they could tell she was joking, or else it would be awkward as hell. Robins ability to read social cues was mediocre at best.   
  
Lucas looked started, but Max apparently understood sarcasm, so she laughing at her. Lucas appeared to calm down a little bit and let out some nervous giggles, still clearly concerned about getting kicked out of Scoops.  
  
Max looked up at her and grinned. “Robin my lady! How’s Stevie boy treating you?” Max was so bright that it was Robins turn to be startled. She didn’t expect the girl to remember her. Robin was kind of forgettable, especially when she was silent and awkward like right now. Plus Max’s brain hopped from topic to topic faster than Robin’s heart could beat, so remembering some random girl was a huge feat.

Apparently someone else bullying Steve had made quite an impression on her because she excitedly began explaining her take on Steve’s worst qualities to Lucas. She looked between the two of them, trying to figure out what the hell to say.

Luckily Steve could sense her terror. “I’ve been great to her.” He sent Max a winning Harrington smile, and Robin pursed her lips. She shook her head and did that really dumb motion for crazy. Steve couldn’t see her he was so busy trying to charm Max, and the girl had to stifle a giggle.  
  
Of course it wasn’t good enough because Steve was annoyingly observant, and he turned and saw her, feigning hurt. “Robin! After all I’ve done for you, you betray me like this? I thought we were friends!” He traced a tear track down his cheek, and Robin hit him.  
  
“Gather yourself dingus. We’ve only got an hour until the 12:30 rush, and I know your hurt feelings take at least that long to regenerate.” She grinned at him, and Steve looked pissy. Before Steve could come up with a retort Lucas swore so loudly that it actually echoed. These kids had mad potty mouth.  
  
“My mom’s going to kill me.” He uttered in horror. He looked was he was just told his execution date. In short, he might have pissed himself.   
  
Max’s mouth dropped open. She was a mixture of terrified and incredibly amused.   
  
Lucas turned to face Max, practically begging. “I don’t want to leave- I’m- I’m sorry Max I-“  
  
“Don’t apologize. Run bitch!” She exclaimed, and Lucas’s expression hardened. He nodded and turned so suddenly that he almost fell before sprinting out of the store, ignoring the sample Steve had been holding out for him. Grumbling, Steve stuck it in his mouth instead.  
  
She could still hear the squeaks of Lucas’s sneakers when Max burst out laughing.  
  
“What the hell was that about?” Steve asked incredulously, and Max did her best to hold in giggles.  
  
“He-“ She laugh heaved. “I’m so sorry, it’s just so fucking stupid.” She paused, and giggled again before collecting herself. “Todays the first day of Mother-Daughter dance class. It started 10 minutes ago. He’s dead meat.”  
  
Steve rested his head on the glass. He looked utterly done with life. “And why is he in this class?”   
  
Max looked down, before making eye contact with both of them seriously. “This never leaves the room, right? Cause Lucas would kill me, and our social lives would reach an all time low.”  
  
“Max, no one likes us. I wouldn’t worry about this getting out.” Just realizing his words, he looked guiltily at her. “I mean, no one likes me. Robins delightful, and just has so many friends-“  
  
“Shut up Steve.” Robin said with a smile in her words. It was kind of true that she didn’t have friends anyway. Besides, even the band kids didn’t card about middle school drama.  
  
Steve signed and soldiered on. “Who the fuck are we going to tell? I have five friends, two of them are you and Lucas and all of the others are middle schoolers.”  
  
“We’re high schoolers now asshole!”  
  
Robin grinned a little. She didn’t know if she was supposed to be sad that Steve had zero friends, but she really wasn’t. It was sort of endearing that his best friends were tweens. He was a total mom. He wiped ice cream off Max’s face with his rag and Robin smirked. Mom.  
  
Max considered that and looked over to her. “Ok, and I trust Robin cause she’s cool, so looks like we’re all good.” Steve looked incredibly offended at the fact she trusted Robin and not him, and Robin couldn’t help but grin. The two of them were really cute together.  
  
“Lucas is trying to act like he’s only in this class because his mom wanted to take it and Erica won’t go, but he’s really excited because he loves ballet.”   
  
Robin literally saw Steve’s jaw drop. No exaggeration. Man’s teeth really sunk a whole level.  
  
“No fucking way. Does Dustin know this?”  
  
“Bitch, Dustin was the one who initiated their first lesson. Fourth grade, they both loved it, we don’t speak of it.” Max smiled mischievously. “Well, they don’t speak of it, I do.” She paused. “A lot.”  
  
“Oh my fucking god.” Steve looked like it was goddamn Christmas. He was overjoyed, and Robin was pretty sure she would be way more amused if she knew who Dustin was. But the thought of Lucas Sinclair- lankiest kid alive- doing ballet was incredible.  
  
Max imitated a ballet move, and the kid was weirdly graceful. She was at the peak of her trick when Robin saw the girl wince before covering it up with a grin and twirl. Steve started applauding dramatically and Robin opened her stupid mouth. Her words did move faster than her mind sometimes.  
  
“What happened to you?” She asked, completely monotone. Looking back it was probably a little rude. Max didn’t look very offended though, just nervous. Steve looked as confused as ever, probably because as Robin was quickly realizing, she had said that to a kid with absolutely no context, and it definitely looked like she was a total asshole who liked bullying tweens. Or was making fun of her shitty ballet, which was actually pretty good.  
  
“What do you mean what happened to me?” Max asked slowly, looking at Steve guiltily. Robin wasn’t exactly a fool, and Max wasn’t one either. Steve still looked completely lost.  
  
“Your side.” She sounded cold. And impersonal. She knew that. She knew that she should probably be kind and comfort the girl into confiding in her or whatever, but she was in no way qualified for that. But instead she did her classic strategy of passing her problems to other people. In this case, Steve. She couldn’t believe that Steve was the qualified, responsible adult in this situation.  
  
“What?” Steve asked, his voice going soft. Max looks up at him guiltily, and he ruffled her hair. “Damn it kid, do we need actual medical care or treatment from Steve Harrington: Teen Doctor.” She didn’t respond and opted to stare at her ice cream. Steve waved his hands in front of her face. “Hey! Look in the eyeballs Mrs. Mayfield.” She snapped her head up and Steve softened again. “You actually okay?”  
  
Max rolled her eyes at him. “If I wasn’t okay I wouldn’t be walking around dumbass.” Steve winced.  
  
Robin’s parents weren’t terrible people. Yeah they were homophobic and all that, but so was everyone. If her mom found out she was gay she would definitely live on the streets. But they didn’t hit her or anything.  
  
By Hawkins standards she had struck the gold mine of gold parents. It sucked that she lived in fear of ever letting her guard down an inch, but that’s how it be sometimes.   
  
“Where’d you sleep last night?” Steve asked knowingly, and Max groaned exasperatedly.  
  
“I-” She sighed. “I was fine! It’s not a big deal.”  
  
“Why didn’t you call me?” Steve asked tiredly, and Max shrugged.  
  
“Your Dad’s home. I can’t sleep in my usual place, and it’s way too dangerous for you to sneak out and go car camping with me again. He would kill you. Plus if he answered the phone-” She trailed off.  
  
“Whatever.” Steve grumbled. “You have to-“   
  
Once again, annoying ass children got in the way of emotional vulnerability, and Robin was done with it. How dare they come into an open shop and buy ice cream?  
  
Robin made eye contact with Steve and nodded. They made a silent agreement. Steve pulled Max into the back room and started talking to her in his low tones, out of view of the customers. Robin put on her fake happy smile and did her best not to cuss children out.  
  
Twenty minutes and 5 bucks of tips that she absolutely was not sharing with Steve later, Max sauntered out of the back gabbering loudly and practically buzzing with energy. It was bizarre how different she looked from twenty minutes before, shrunken into herself. She had known Max for two days, but she had already met like fifteen versions of the kid.  
  
Steve rolled out after her, laughing about something or another. “Literally suck my dick.” Max’s eyes sparkled and Steve realized his mistake, his eyes going wide.. “Max please don’t I-”  
  
“That’s what your Mom told me last night!” She blurted, and Robin reached over and high fived the kid, laughing. Robin was a sucker for a good old your mom joke, especially a vaguely gay one. It was really the only time she could talk about fucking a girl without people literally convulsing and trying to exorsize her.  
  
Max returned the high five, and grinned at Steve. “See, your girlfriend thinks I’m funny.”  
  
Robin has a minor seizure right there. The idea of dating Steve gave her a similar feeling to being told she had to fuck a ostrich. Disgusting and vaguely terrifying. 

“We’re not dating.” They both said simultaneously, and Max raised her eyebrows.  
  
“Very well rehearsed.” Steve groaned and the two of them looked at eachother. Robin shook her head, rolling her eyes. Fucking kids. Fucking straight people. Fucking Steve Harrington and his stupid pretty face which she didn’t even find pretty. It was annoying.  
  
“I’m picking you up later, right?” Max didn’t respond, looking at some random shit and tapping her fingers. Girl had mad ADHD. “Hey, little orphan Annie? You with us?” Max’s head snapped up.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
Steve threw a chocolate chip at her. “Party hang out tonight?” Max was clearly not computing. “Movie night with the boys. Mike’s not coming because he's angsty and hates me, so it's really just the people we actually like, minus D-Henderson.”  
  
Max cracked a grin. “Mike’s so fucking emo. Bitch needs a hobby other than sitting around with his girlfriend and wallowing in self hate.”  
  
Steve laughed, and Robin chuckled a little bit. She kind of wanted to meet Mike just because she lived for teenage angst. Robin was teenage angst in a small and angry gay nutshell.  
  
“Yeah, I’ll wait in the usual spot. You know the drill.”  
  
“Obviously.”   
  
Robin was still trying to figure their weird little thing. They were friends, clearly, but it was just bizarre. Steve Harrington wasn’t supposed to be nice. That was his thing. He wasn’t supposed to pick up kids to take them to the movies and doctor them and laugh and be kind to the weird band girl or angsty teenager. That just wasn’t the way life worked.  
  
But apparently it was because Max was still rambling about something while Steve nodded and pretended to listen. He gave Robin a look equivalent to kids these days.  
  
She shook her head, grinning, and went back to actually serving paying customers. She fucking hated people coming into a store and buying things. Go to Stop and Shop and buy shitty Ben and Jerry’s like the rest of the peasants.  
  
Max jumped onto the counter and sat, where Steve immediately pushed her off. “We have to obey like one health code today.” He grumbled, and Max flipped him off.  
  
“You’re the worst.”  
  
“Fuck off Mayfield. And change your shirt, swearings fucking rude.” Max glared at him, clearly not on board.  
  
“Absolutly fucking not.”  
  
“Shithead.” Steve grumbled.   
  
Max looked down at her sweatshirt, before glaring up at Steve. “Fuck you, this is a great shirt.”   
  
It kind of was a great shirt. Completely inappropriate to wear around in public, but hilarious. Robin absoutley would invest in “Fuck Indiana” apparel. Her parents would probably kill her, but it would be funny. Because Indiana fucking sucks. She couldn’t wait to get the hell out of this shithole.  
  
“Fuck me? Fuck you!” Steve yelped, and Robin shushed him, pointing meaningfully towards the room of children next to them. Why did she have to be the responsible one? She hated being responsible, it was stupid.  
  
They quieted down, both glaring at Robin. Max mouthed another “FUCK YOU” to Steve. Steve flipped her off with two pinkies, and they got into a silent yet deadly argument.  
  
“Steve, get your kid under control.” Robin ordered, and Steve made a face, but rounded up Max anyone.  
  
“You’re such a mom.” Max complained, and Steve pushed her lovingly. He pulled her closer, until his arm was around the girls shoulder and Max was leaning against him, giggling. She hit his stomach and he winced dramatically, practically faking his own death on the floor of Scoops Ahoy.  
  
They were stupid cute. At least they didn’t have a handshake, because she would never let Steve hear the end of it. She missed her stupid brother, even though she kind of hared him. He was an asshole, but Steve reminded her of him. But more annoying and with dumber hair.  
  
Max broke free, and sighed. “This has been a terrible experience, but I’ve got to go. If I’m not outside in five Billy’s gonna leave me here.”  
  
Steve gave her a look that she couldn’t decipher. “You can stay here if you want and I’ll take you straight to movie night.” He suggested, and Max shook her head.  
  
“Nah, if I don’t show my face Neil’s gonna think I’m having an orgy or something and it’ll be lockdown. I’m just going to cook dinner and hide out in my room til you come pick me up. No issue.”  
  
Steve looked incredible skeptical. “You sure?”  
  
Max grabbed her backpack off the floor and gave a quick smile. “Yeah.” She ducked under the counter and gave a little wave as she ran out. “See you later!” She yelled before disappearing, her bag bouncing on her shoulders.  
  
Steve sighed , leaning against the wall. “She’s fucking exahsting.” He groaned, breathing heavily.  
  
“She’s cute.” Robin replied, giving him a look. She wasn’t capable of being serious though. “You’re a good mother dingus.”  
  
“Ah fuck off.” He pushed himself up and polished his scooper.   
  
“Whatever.” Robin’s mouth twitched into a smile, and Steve shook his head.  
  
“I hate you so much.”  
  
“It’s mutual.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, i’m still figuring out how this stories going to go. originally planned on a oneshot but y’all had such a great response I wanted to keep it going. thank you so much for the support and let me know any ideas you have, i’d love to include them <3

**Author's Note:**

> Not really sure what happened here. Im thinking about making this a series, either having each kid come into the shop for the first time with Robin's perspective or just a continuation of Robin watching Steve and Max or maybe just focusing on Robin and Max's relationship? Let me know what you want to see or if this is shit and you want no more of this. Thanks for reading!


End file.
